More than 300 of the ponies, donkeys and cattle that normally roam through the New Forest have been driven indoors by the freezing weather this year.

The people who care for the ponies, known as agisters, are hoping that the weather improves before they begin foaling later this month. Jonathan Gerelli, the head agister, said: “This year has been particularly bad — prolonged cold and wet weather affects the ponies more than other stock so we have been very, very busy.”

Further north, however, the smell of spring was in the air. Hannah Phelps, 9, of Ikley, West Yorkshire, was one

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